The FIA European Historic Rally Championship returns to Italy this week for the 41st Sanremo Historic Rally, which will bring the 2026 Pre-1992 and Pre-2000 Championships to a close on the legendary asphalt roads of western Liguria.

Taking place on 16-17 October, the famous event has attracted an outstanding field of historic machinery and some of rallying’s most recognisable names, with 151.37 competitive kilometres across ten special stages awaiting the crews.

Few events carry quite the same rallying heritage as Sanremo. A fixture of the FIA World Rally Championship for three decades, its twisting mountain roads, technical sections and constantly changing rhythm have produced some of the sport’s most memorable battles. This weekend, another impressive collection of cars and drivers will add a new chapter to that history.

Leading the field away will be Jari-Matti Latvala and Tomiya Maekawa in their Toyota Celica ST185. The former FIA World Rally Championship star and current Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team Principal has become a familiar front-runner in FIA historic competition and returns to asphalt in one of the most successful rally cars of the 1990s.

Latvala has already demonstrated his pace across a variety of events this season and will be among the leading contenders for outright honours in Sanremo.

Alongside him is newly-crowned FIA EHRC Pre-2000 Champion François Delecour, reunited with co-driver Fabrice Gordon aboard the spectacular Peugeot 306 Maxi. Delecour has enjoyed a remarkable 2026 campaign, taking the car synonymous with one of the most memorable chapters of his career back onto some of Europe’s most famous rally stages. The Frenchman arrives in Sanremo with the Pre-2000 title already secured, allowing him to turn his attention towards finishing his championship-winning campaign with another strong result. Sanremo also represents familiar territory for Delecour, who competed on the event during his FIA World Rally Championship career.

There will be further World Championship pedigree near the front of the field courtesy of Freddy Loix. The Belgian, who made his FIA World Rally Championship debut in Sanremo in 1993 and went on to contest 93 WRC events, returns more than three decades later behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla WRC alongside Pieter Tsjoen.

The strength of the entry extends well beyond the former WRC stars. Ghislain de Mevius and Johan Jalet will tackle the event in a Subaru Impreza GT, while Irish pairing Alan Ring and Adrian Deasy bring another Impreza to Sanremo following a strong Pre-2000 campaign.

For the Pre-1992 contenders, Sanremo represents the final opportunity of the season to settle the remaining championship honours, adding another layer of intrigue to the battle on the Ligurian roads.

Welshman Osian Pryce adds further quality to the Pre-1992 field aboard his Ford Escort RS1800, while Tomas Davies returns in his BMW M3 E30. Ville Silvasti will join Latvala in representing Finland with another Toyota Celica ST185, while experienced championship regulars including Matthias Karlowski, Tim Metcalfe, Antonio Parisi and Giuliano Palmieri will also be in action.

The Italian contingent will provide another major storyline. Six-time Sanremo Historic winner Lucio Da Zanche returns in his Porsche 911 and will be aiming to add another success to his remarkable record on the Ligurian roads after finishing runner-up last year, while two-time European historic champion Andrea ‘Zippo’ Zivian will also be among the home favourites, competing in a Subaru Impreza.

The 41st Sanremo Historic Rally gets underway from Pian di Nave at 08:30 on Friday 16 October, with the opening leg comprising two passes each of four special stages.

Crews will tackle San Romolo-Ghimbegna, Bivio Ceppo-Badalucco, Molini-Buggio and Semoigo-Bajardo, before the competition moves into the area around Imperia on Saturday for the decisive Carpasio-Ville San Pietro and Caravonica-Rezzo stages.

In total, competitors face 475.70 kilometres over the two days, including 151.37 kilometres against the clock across ten special stages.